KOTA KINABALU: The active role of local communities in ocean conservation efforts in Sabah is a key step forward, says international NGO Reef Check Malaysia.
Its senior programme manager Adzmin Fatta said that across Sabah's east coast, there were growing examples of communities taking increasingly active roles in protecting and managing their marine environments.
"Members of the community are participating in reef monitoring, supporting coral restoration, collecting ecological data, conducting awareness programmes, and contributing to local marine governance initiatives," he said in a statement on Friday (June 12).
"Importantly, these efforts are not because communities have suddenly become conservationists.
"They are occurring because communities increasingly recognise that the future of their wellbeing is inseparable from the future of the ecosystems around them," he added.
The statement was issued in conjunction with World Oceans Day (June 8) and Coral Triangle Day (June 9).
As an example, Adzmin said that in Semporna, local youth and others in the community have taken on more roles that would once have been the exclusive domain of researchers or conservationists.
"Through community-led conservation initiatives, they are helping monitor reef health, remove coral predators, support restoration efforts, contribute to bleaching assessments, and participate in local marine management activities.
"Their contribution extends beyond implementation. It represents something more important: ownership," he added.
Adzmin said involvement of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) living and depending on ocean resources, especially in the epicentre of the marine life-rich Coral Triangle that includes Malaysian waters, was important for conservation to succeed.
He said marine conservation has, for decades, been left to governments, researchers, scientists, and environmental organisations whose contributions remain indispensable.
"The scientific research, policy development and ocean management are all essential components of conservation.
"But one critical lesson has emerged from conservation efforts around the world: long-term success is difficult to achieve without meaningful participation from the people who depend most directly on marine resources," he said.
Adzmin said the reality is that communities are not merely beneficiaries of conservation outcomes but key players in achieving these goals.
"These communities possess generations of knowledge, have direct relationships with marine ecosystems, and often experience environmental change long before it becomes visible in scientific reports or government statistics.
"Yet historically, they have not always been positioned at the centre of marine conservation efforts," he added.
He said across the globe, oceans were experiencing unprecedented pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss, overfishing, marine pollution and unsustainable coastal development with the impact becoming increasingly visible.
"Coral bleaching events are occurring more frequently and with greater intensity.
"Plastic pollution has become a defining feature of many coastlines," he said, adding that marine ecosystems that have sustained communities for generations are now under growing strain.
